The 43.43 metre tall rocket lifted off at 5.28 pm from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here and launched the 3,136 kg GSAT-19, the heaviest satellite to be launched from the country yet, into orbit about 16 minutes later.

A jubilant Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman A S Kiran Kumar said it “is a historic day” and the the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III (MkIII D-1) has successfully demonstrated its capabilities with the injection of GSAT-19 into the desired orbit.

“It is a great success in the first maiden attempt and GSLV MkIII has successfully put in orbit GSAT-19 which is a next generation satellite,” Kumar said.

“I wish to congratulate the entire team which has relentlessly worked each day for today’s launch from 2002,” he said.

In a series of tweets, he said, “Heartiest congratulations to ISRO on the historic launch of GSLV-Mk III. GSLV-Mk III is the heaviest rocket ever made by India and is capable of carrying the heaviest satellites made till date. The nation is proud of this significant achievement.”

GSAT-19, which will augment India’s communication resources, was released into the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

Today’s GSLV mission is significant for India as ISRO had been depending on foreign launchers for orbiting communication satellites weighing more than 2,300 kgs. The GSLV MkIII-D1 is capable of lifting payloads or satellites weighing upto 4,000 kgs into the GTO and 10,000kgs into the Low Earth Orbit.

It was a textbook launch as every stage of the three-stage GSLV MkIII with indegeneous cryogenic engine performed well.

Jantakareporter.com is an independent news website covering the latest trends from India and around the world. Our team of hard-working and dedicated journalists gather news, verify their authenticity before showcasing them on our website for your consumption. The purpose of launching Jantakareporter.com, a 24×7 multimedia website is to revolutionize the way we gather news.